Tire building machine



TIRE BUILDING MACHINE Filed D90. 5, 1953 or former.

Patented Mar. 19, 1935 TIRE BUILDING MACHINE Henry C. Bostwick, Coventry Township, Summit County, Ohio, assigner to `The Akron Standard Mold Company, Akron, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Applieation December 5, 1993, serial No. 700,988

' iclaims.' t (el. 154-10) This invention relates to tire building machines, and its general purpose is to provideA improved devices for stitching o-r rolling down the componentsof a tire forming band upon the drum One particular object is to improve the mode of imparting a cross-feedmovement to the stitcher wheels, radially of the drum, to bring them into and out of position against the work and to equalize the pressure of aA pair of such wheels, particularly inV rounding the beads orv the plies of material on the shoulders or bead seats at the ends of the drum. A- further objectv is to improve the means for imparting an Opposite longitudinal feeding movement to a pair of stitchers, widthwise of the building drum or forrn.`

Of the accompanying drawing, Figi is a front side elevation, partly broken away, showinga tire building machine provided with my improvements. p

Fig. 2 is an end elevation and section fromy the plane 2-2 of Fig. 1. e

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section of thev hydraulic actuator on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. y t Fig. 4 is an `enlarged vertical section of one of the hydraulic receivers on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is an enlarged horizontal section on the line 5`5"of Fig. 2. p

Fig. 6 is a detail transverse section and end elevation showing a modiiied stitcher mounting.

Fig. 7 is a front side elevation'of said modified mounting from the plane 7-'7 of Fig. 6.

In the drawing, 10 is a rotary tire building drum shouldered at its ends with reduced bead seats 11 for building a tire band havinginextensible beads, said ldrum'being of a suitable segmental construction permitting it Ato be collapsed for removal of the completed band. Thev'drum is carried by the outward end of a rotary driving shaft 12 projecting horizontally from the casing f 13 containing the driving Vmechanism and beingv bar areslidingly mounted a pair of stitchersup` porting brackets 17 embracing the bar for carrying the stitchers in a feeding movement widthwise of the drum, parallel to its axis of rotation.

18 is an endless feed `chain guided on the front face of the bar 15 by means including an idle sprocket wheel 19 at the outward end of said bar,

` forming a bight or loop inthe chain which divides its horizontal portion into upper and lower stretches, land further including an idle sprocket wheel 20 for the lower stretch of the chain and an idle roller 21 for its upper stretch, at the inner end'of said bar. The supporting bracket 17 for the left-hand stitcher as `viewed in Fig. 1 is attached to the upper stretch of the chain 18 by screws 22 mounted on an upper flange of said bracket, and the left-hand bracket 1'7 is attached to the lower stretch of the chain by similar screws 23 mounted on a lower ange ofthe latter bracket, so that vwhen tractive movement is applied to the chain the stitchers carried by the brackets l will be edually moved in opposite directions.A For moving the chain 18, it is led around the sprocket 20 and roller `21 in upright. portions forming a bght which passes around an actuating sprocket wheel 24 iixed upon the rear end of a horizontal transverse power shaft 25which is mounted above the level of the guide-bar 15 to turn in fixed bearings 26 on thecasing 13. On the front end of the shaft 25 Vis iixed a suitable power member which in this case takes the form ofa hand wheel 27,

`for whiclrmight obviously be substituted a motor such as an electric motor having suitable con-l trois.` v Y f' Each of the supporting brackets 1'7V has mounted on its upper edge a lever 28 turning upon a pivot pin 29 which is carried by ears or flanges 30 formed upon the bracket. The upper arm of said lever is formed as a socket for receiving a stem 31 upon whose upper end is mounted, for

free turning movement about a substantially horizontal bearing pin or journal 32, a stitcher.

`wheel 133 forrolling down the tire-band compo` nents lonUone-halfof the drum width while the companion stitcher wheel rolls down 'theban'd` components on the other half .i f The stitcher stem 31 is clamped in the-socket of thelever 28` by a bolt 31jal and may be fixed in said socket at different angularadjustments to camber the plane of the'A stitching roller more or less with relation to the plane of the drum. y t

t Provision is made for settingthe stitcher lever 28 in varying projected and retracted positions transversely with reference' to the drum periphery to accommodate drums `ofdiiferent diameters, in this instance `by providingthe ears 30 with a seriesof pairs of vholes 34, in any pair of which the pivot pin 29'may be located, but any equivalent means to this end might beH employed.

the plies around the shoulders of the drum `1v1".A or over the beads on said shoulders, Which,be.

cause of local high spots in the material or im# perfect centralization of the stitchers withthe drum, may not present the same lheight to both stitchers at the same time@l 4The means to this end includes a fluid-pressure actuator or pusher designated generally at `and `iixedlyV mounted upon the iioor within convenient reach of the operators foot, a pair of fluid-pressurereceiversY designated generally at 36and carried by the respective stitcher bracketslland iiexible transmitting pipes'or tubes 37 connecting said receivers in parallelwith the pusher 35.

, The construction of the pusher 35 includes a` vertical hydraulic cylinder 38 on a base 39, a single-acting piston 40 therein, attached tothe lower ,end VVof a rod 41 whose upper end Ais pivotally connected at 42 with a foot lever 43 having a pedal 44 at its front end nearthe iioor and rearwardly fulcrumed on a pin 45 atthe upper endof la link 46whose lower yend is pivoted on the cylinder casing, together with a light spring` 47 under the piston which constitutes aloading for a valve 48 controlling the return of liquid into the cylinderrom a base passage 49 with which the 'pipes 37 are connected, and aspiring-loaded check valve` 50 carried by the Valve 4 8 and `controlling an outlet frornthe cylinder through said valve 48. There is further provided at the upper end of the cylinder 38 a reservoir chamber 51 having a screw-cap -52 through which the piston rod 4l passes and adapted to supply vmake-up liquid through a pair of ports 53 inthe cylinder wall, uncoveredy by the pistonA in the. highest position of the latter, for keeping the system full ofliquid to compensate for leakages.

Each of the receivers 36 for" applying fluid pressure to the corresponding stitcher wheel comprises a single-acting cylinder 54 pivoted by a pin -55 atits lower end to a rearwardlyprojecting arm 56v on the stitcher-supporting bracket 17,

a piston 57 in thek cylinder,` the packingcup of Whichis held against the pistonfbody by alight spring .'58 under the piston, van external sleeve 59 teles'coping .on the cylinder a pivot pin 6 0 connecting the *upper end of the sleevewith the lower arm` of the stitcher-holding lever 28,v vastii.

spring' 61 interposedfbetween thefpiston and sleeve for yieldingly transmitting the pressure of thepiston to the sleeve, and a pair. of external pulllsprings 62 connecting the ends of thepivot pins 55 and 56 for retractingthe /stitchersr away from the work when the fluid pressure is removed.

To limit'the inward radial movement of the stitcher when it runs off the edge of the work, itslever 28 is provided with apivoted stopfrod or link. 63 having an adjustablenut 64''o1fen-` gaging the under side ofthe bracket arm 56. Y

In the `operation of this apparatus, the plies of tire material are laid upon `the drum 1 0Ein. the usual manner and whenv they are to be Arolled down, the stitching rollers 33 are first brought together in the middle. of the drum periphery-by, a clockwise rotation yof the feed shafti25, causing the left-hand stitcher whose supporting bracket 17 is attached to the upper stretch of the chain 18 to move to the right, and the right-hand stitcher whose bracket is attached to vthe lower stretch of the chain to move to the left. The operator then steps on the pedal 44 of the lever 43, causing liquid to be expelled past the Avalve 50 from thev cylinder of. the pusher35 ,through the flexible pipes 37 intothe cylinders-"of the respective receivers 36 and thereby projecting the two stitching rollers 33 radially inward against vthe tire material upon the drum, lthe amount of s ing rollers areV fedapart longitudinally or width- Wise of the drumb'y a Counterclockwise rotation of the feeding shaft 25 by means of its hand wheel 27, and the material is thereby rolled down throughout the width of the band. The two receivers36 being. connected inparallel witheah other to the .pipes 37 having a feed corrnectionj With the pusher cylinder. 38 through its dischargepassage 49,*` thereceiver'lpressures arek tlfiereby.i equalized, irrespective` of the .-individualfradial positionsof the `two stitchingrollers, enabling either vroller to surrnount local humpssueh as seams in the materiaLand also .enablingonej s titcherto ride overfthe corresponding tire bead or the slope ofthe material on the drum shoulder. 11, before the other, incase the drum or Inaterial` is slightly off center in respect to the sti tche r v spacing-without producing inequality of stitchingpressures. `This result is practicallyimpossibler of attainment with ordinaryl arrangements wherein the stitchers are backedv by springs and projected through a mechanical connection comeiv montothetwo.V

When the operators foot pressure is re'mo\ ed .y from thelever 43,;the springs 62 cause theleversr 28 to be swung backwardly on their pivotstheref by retracting the stitchingrollers 33 radially from the drum, and the liquid is therebyretrirrledk through the. pipes 37 and past the spring-loaded valve v 48 into the pusher cylinder 38. `14 When fthe receivers 36 arethusy relaxed, the pressureofthe loading spring 47 for said valveis, suflicient[tol preventl drainage of Vthe remaining liquid column in the receiver, cylinders and pipes, back throughJ the pusher cylinder andits storage VA chamber.51,

which mightotherwiseioccur by reason;of i l 1e:11eceiversbeing ata higher level thanfthepusherf- Figs. 6 and 7 represent a modied siiitclier slide65 movable in a guideii on the bracket segment 68 formed onfaleven69pivotedfat70fto,}

draulic receiver 36in this casebeing pivotally mounted in ahorizonta-l position upon the lower side of the bracket., For setting the initialp os i tion of the stitcher havingaqrnountingofqthis; type, to vaccommodate;building drums `of different diameters, Vtlfiemeshing of the.-racl;, 67 withthe, segment 68 maybe changed as desired.- .,f-

Various .other modifications of embodiment v could tbe made without departing from'thescopel of my inventionasdened in the` claims.

I claim: e, Y

. 1. In, a tire building machina. the combina, tion. of a rotary shouldered drum, a pairof" stitch'er wheels coactingtherewithg means 'fO'rim-Z' parting opposite feed movements to said Wheels longitudinally of the axis of rotation of the drum, and fluid-pressure means for imparting radial feed movements to said wheels including receiving cylinders and pistons for the respective Wheels, a pushing cylinder and piston adapted to be actuated by the operator, and fluid-conducting connections from the pushing to the receiving cylinders having members in parallel for equalizing the pressures upon the receiving cylinders.

2. In a tire building machine, the combination of a rotary building form, rectilinear guiding means mounted parallel with the axis of rotation of said form, a pair of stitchers having supports slidable on said guiding means, means for imparting simultaneous opposite feed movements to the stitcher supports, a xedly mounted hy-` draulic pusher adapted to be actuated by the manual power of the operator, hydraulic receivers carried by the stitcher supports for imparting movements to the stitchers radially of the form, and iiexible fluid-conducting connections from said pusher to the receivers. y

3. In a tire building machine, the combination of a rotary tire building drum, a pair of stitcher- Wheel supports mounted for opposite rectilinear p sliding movements parallel with the axis of rotation of said drum, stitcher wheels carried by slides having a rectilinear movement on said supports radially of the drum, vfluid-pressure receivers on said supports for actuating the slides, and means for supplying fluid pressure to said receivers. v i

4. In a tire building machine, the combination of a rotarytire building form, a stitcher mounted for feed movement longitudinally of the axis of rotation of said form and also mounted for feed movement radially of the form, a hydraulic receiver carried with the stitcher in its longitudinal feed movements for imparting said radial feed movement, a. treadle-actuated hydraulic pusher xedly mounted below the level of said receiver, a storage chamber for supplying make-up liquid to said pusher, and valve devices in said pusher including means for preventing drainage of said receiver through said pusher into the storagelvalve devices include a spring-loaded return valve for preventing the baci; drainage, and an outlet check valve carried by said spring-loaded valve.

6. In a tire building machine, the combination of a rotary tire building form, a stitcher support having a rectilinear feed movement longitudinally of the axis of rotation of said form, a stitcher wheel carried on an arm pivoted to said support for moving the wheel radially of the form, and means for locating the arm pivot in different positions transversely of the form periphery to accommodate forms of different diameters.

'7. In a tire building machine, the combination of a rotary tire building form, a rectilinear stitcher guide parallel with the axis of rotation of the form, a pair of stitchers slidingly movable in opposite directions on said guide, a stitcher-feeding shaft rotatably mounted above the level of said guide, flexible tractor means having oppositely movable stretches connected with the respective stitchers and with said shaft, and guiding devices for said tractor means forming a biglit therein at one side of the machine and leading said tractor means at the other side from the stitcher-guiding level to the shaft level. f

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 in which the tractor means is an endless chain having horizontall stitcher-feeding stretches and upright portions passing over a sprocket wheel on the feeding shaft and the guiding means includes a sprocketV Wheel in the bight of the chain, and another sprocket wheel at the end of the lower stretch of the chain for changing its direction into an upright course.

9. In a tire building machine, the combination of a rotary building drum, a stitcher Wheel mounted for radial positioning movement with relation to said drum and also mounted for feed movement lengthwise of the drum, and means for eiecting said radial positioning movement comprising a hydraulicreceiver connected with the stitcher wheel, a manual-power hydraulic pusher adapted to graduate the stitcher-wheel pressure according to the manual pressure applied to said pusher by the operator, and a pressure-transmitting pipe connection between said pusher and receiver. v

10. Apparatus according to claim 9 in which the pusher is stationarily mounted and provided with a pedal for applying foot pressure thereto.

' HENRY C. BOSTWICK. 

